Shelter building



Nov. 28, 1944. A. E, WATERMAN ETAL 63,

SHELTER BUILDING Filed Nqv. 3, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet .1

INVNTORS ARTHUR E WATERNA/V' HAROLD 5. R49 8) ATTORNEY 8, A.,E. WATERMANETAL 2,363,917

- SHELTER BUILDING Filed Nov. 3, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY 1944. A.E. WATERM-AN ETAL 2,363,917

SHELTER BUILDING 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. a, 1943 INVENTORJ ARTHUR .EWren/1 4 M49040 RA 67 A TTORNEY A. E. WATERMAN ET AL Nov. 28; 1944.

SHELTER BUILDING Filed NOV. 3, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ARTHUR [MTFRMA/Y ATTORNEY Nov. 28,1944, A. E. WATERMAN sun. 2,363,917

SHELTER BUILDING Filed Nov. :5, 1943 s Sheets-Sheet 5 g B INVENTOR$-ARTHUR 5 WA TERMWN HARoLWQ AcY 56.20 BY ATTORNEY A. E. WATERMAN ETAL ,36

SHELTER BUILDING Filed Nov. 3, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 R uvmvrozes ARTHURE \A/A7E'R/1A/Y HAROLD B. 72-Ma R) '77 4 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 28, 1944i UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE MSHAEU-LTER BUILDING Arthur Waterman andHarold'B. Tracy, Fort Atkinson, Wis.,- assignors to James Manufacturing'Company, Fort Atkinson, Wis., a company floor sections illustrating howthe arches are detachably fastened to the floor sections.

7 Figs. 11 and 12- are enlarged detailed views illustrating how thespacer bars are fastened to the arches. i

Fig. 13 is a fractional longitudinal section through one of the floormembers.

. Fig. 14 is a fractional transverse section through one of the floormembers.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged section through three of the ribs, a covering andanend blanket.

Fig. 16 is a fractional view through a floor unit illustrating how theend ofthe blanket is fastenedto the floor unit when folded. I i

Fig. 1'7 illustrates one-of theribs as shown in Fig. 8 but partiallyfolded. V

Fig. ,18 illustrates a rib folded and ready to be packed in a containeror tied together for transportation. 4

Fig. 19 is a side fractional view of one of the ribs illustrating howthe ends are secured together by-means of hinges.

, Fig. 20 is a sectional View taken on line 20-20 of Fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is an enlarged perspective fractional view showing afractionvofone of the floor units in section and illustrating the mannerof fastening an end of the blanket .when folded to the floor unit.

Fig. 22 is a view similar to Fig. 21 showing the blanket fastening tothe floor unit when the blanket is not folded.

.- The present invention relates to buildings which can be knocked downfor convenient transp0rtati0n and which areadapted for sheltering humanbeings andparticularly for army use. and;, for sheltering delicateinstruments. .The present invention relates to improvements onthe designshown in ourcopending application Serial #464,314, filed November 2,.1942, ,1 Important objects of the present invention are to simplify thefloor structure whichincludes a 10 numberof units and to improvethemethod of fastening thegribs of the building to .the floor assembly.H

Another object of the present invention is to .provide a numberof'box-like vfioormnits which 15 may be assembled together in pairs,forming-containers into. which various parts of the building may bepacked and the container parts secured together, preferably by means of.trunk like fas-m. tenings; thus, if a building consists of 8-floor 20units these units may be used. to-providefour containers which'aresuitable for convenient handling and into which. all orpart ofthebuilding parts may be packed. r as An object of the present invention isto pro- 25 vide containers from the floor units which may be easilyhandled and stacked, easily loaded and unloaded and being particularlysuited for truck, vessel or airplane transportation. 1

To these and otherusef-ul ends our invention 80 consists of parts,combination of parts or their equivalents as hereinafter set forth andclaimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in As thus illustrated,the covering blankets are which: -l designated in their entirety byreference char- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of our improved acter A.The end covering including the door shelter building. v is illustratedin its entirety'by reference char- Fig. 2 is a perspective assembledview of our acter B. The floor units are designated in their floorassembly. entirety by reference character C. In Fig. 2 eight Fig. 3 is abottom view of one of. the floori'w. floor units 0 are shown fittedtogether ready to sections. 40 receive the ends of the arches, which intheir Fig. 4 is a side view of the section shown in entireties aredesignated by reference characters Fig.3. D and E.

' Fig. 5 is an end view of the floor section shown inFig.3. J

Fig. 6 is a side view of two of the floor sections fastened together toform a packing container. Fig. 7 is a side view of thefioor assemblywith the covering blanket supporting arches attached thereto.

-Fig. 8 is a cross section of the assemblyas shown in Fig. '1.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fractional view illustrating how the arches areheld to the floor section and staked to the ground.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fractional view of two 'By scrutinizing Figs. 1,2 and 7 it will be seen that the complete floor assembly as illustrated45 consists of eight members D, so that the building is the width of thelengths of two members C and the length of four widths of these members;that there are three members D and two members E used in this assemblyand as illustrated in Fig. 15, there will be two cover blankets A and ofcourse two members B to make a complete building of a popular size. Insome assemblies the rear end member may be somewhat different frommember B as shown in Fig. 1; This rear member may be similar to thatillustrated in Fig.

side frame boards ll0 and end frame boards H-l 1. Members ID arepreferably provided with reinforcing strips l2, l3 and I4. Members [3extendslightly above the edges of the top of members it. Members l0 andii are preferably provided with strips l4 so as to form ledges on whichfloor boards l5 rest. We provide transverse sills 16. These sills are attheir ends, secured to the Side frame members and are flush with thetops of member 14; thus, in the design shown each floor section ismeter:

leaving four spaces under the floor boards for insulation pads H. Thesepads consi t Of a sheet of fabric material and a filler'of insulatingmaterial. The edges of the fabric sheets. extend over the tops ofmembers l4 and I6; thus when the floor boards and the insulating pads Hare assembled and the box shaped frame placed on the ground, there willbe considerable space=bedead air space between the pads and the groundand add to the insulation characteristics-of the building.

At two adjacent corners in members members l3 terminate a short distancefromthese 3o endsj thus when members 0 are assembled together asshown-in Fig. 2 there'aie left -openings 20 which are suitable for thereception of the ends of ribs D and E. V a

Members D and E are preferably madam-three pieces, see Figs. 1'7, 18,19' zo andthese-pieces i are secured together by means of'suitabl'ehinges 22, one on each side at the joints. it is necessary tofold theribsfor packing a detachable bolt 23 is removed from one of each of thehinges. These bolts are secured 'to the hinges by means of chains 24'",to prevent losing them. Members D are shapedas shown in Fig. 20 havingpreferably-ledges 24-24 on which the ends of blankets A rest as clearlyillustrated in Fig-. 15. 5

Members E in cross section are shaped as" shown in Fig. 15 forming arest for blanket" A midway between members 1).

Member D near their bottoms are provided with brackets 25 (see Figs. 9and 10), which are slotted ontheir undersides as at 26. Members 10 areprovided with bolts 27 the properposition so when member D is presseddown into space 20 formed by the floor assembly, thumb nuts 28 may betightened so as to form a very rigid fastening between the floor units Cand between the arches and floor units. Members D at the end of thefloor assembly may be provided with an L shaped member (not shown-) as asubstitute for member 25, or one end of this member may project past thefloor assembly as shown in Fig. 7. Members D are provided-with brackets40 having rings 4| hinged thereto, as'illustrated. After the arches aresecured to the floor assembly stakes 42 having notches 43 are placed: in

In order to form a rigid structure, we provide spaced strips 35 (seeFigs. 7, 8, l1 and 12) having U-shaped brackets 36 with grooves 31adapted to receive bolts 38. When the strips are placed into position,thumb nuts 39 may be tightened to form a rigid connection between the'tho factthat the blankets consist of two fabric sheetshaving-aninsulating filling and that there is an -insulated pad underthe floor and a dead strips and arches; thus it will be seen byscrutinizing Figs. 7 and 8, thatth-e floor assembly and the arches withtheir fastenings and strips form a very substantial frame. A frame whichhas adequate strength for supporting the blankets and withstanding theworst storms and weather.

After the frame-work is assembled as illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8,blankets A are placed into position (see Figs. 1, 15,21, and 22).

It has been found in practice that while the frame work of the devicechanges very little in the course of months or years, the blankets do A.are therefore made so that they may be used 7 ,15 'eonveniently at alltimes in the following manably provided with three members l6 (se 3),

Those flaps are provided with grommets 41 which are preferablypositioned about in line with members 45 and a rope 48 is laced overmembers 45 and made taut as illustrated, the ends being securedto stakes42. When the 'blanketis shrunk, tween members I! and the ground forminga 5 one or both of the blanket ends are laced to anchors 45 asillustrated in Fig. 22 and when the blankets are abnormally long, theyare folded as illustrated in Fig. 21; in either event the lacings willact-to hold th blankets snugly against the baseboard.

It will be-seen by scrutinizing Figs. 21 and 22, that we-have providedmeans for taking care of the shrinking and stretching of the blankets,

which at all times will snugly hug the floor units to form an airtightenclosure; and in view of airspace under the pad, it is obvious ourshelter building is easily heated during cold'weather and is 0001 duringhot weather, equalling in efficiency a modern insulated conventionalresidence.

Clearlyour shelter building is light, can be manufactured at low costand can be knocked down and packed in the containers formed from a pairof members C; and when so packed the containers can be easily handledand transported.

The separate: units with which to erect our shelter building beingdetachably secured together provides a building which can be easily andquickly erected 0r disassembled and packed for shipment. Or the buildingmay be mounted on skids and moved. about for short distances withoutdanger to. the structure.

In Fig. 16 we illustrate how, after the building has been erected, atrench maybe made around the four sides of the building and dirt or snowpiled: against the floor units as. illustrated, thus to doubly insulatethe floor and at-the same time provide suitable drainage.

We have, as a matter of convenience shown a standard sized bui1ding. Anadvantage of the applicants design is that our shelter building may :beerected in various lengths; for example, four, eight or twelve members 0may be used for three diiferent length buildings, without a singlechange in the parts or units from which the building is assembled. Inany event the characteristics of the building will not be changed, andthe entire building in any size may be packed in containers formed frommembers C andthese members may be secured together by means of trunkclasps 49-or by means of'bolts.

Our improved building can beeasily'assembied from the ground and whenassemblechiis yieldtion we claim: r j 1. A floor assembly fora buildingof the character described, comprisin a number of inverted boxshapedelements adapted to be placed end to end inpairs andside by side,-theupper closed sides being adapted to act asa floor for the building,spaced means on certain outer surfaces of said elements adapted toregisterlwhen the open sides of the elements are laidtogether to form.an- 1 enclosure, the spaced members adapted to act as detachable meansgethen very noisy during windstorms and transmit out- I jside sounds tothe interior., Furthermore because r of the flexibl nature of thebuilding a perfectly flat; surface onwhich toerect thebuilding is not Inecessary asin metal buildings particularly those 1 having asheet metalcovering.-

Clearly many minorTdetailed changesmay be made Without departing. fromthe spirit and scope of our inventionyas recited in the appended claims.

. Having thus shown and described our invenfor holding the elements to-2. A device as recited in claim 1 including: in

sulating pads positionedadjacent andunder said closedsides and havingathickness considerably less thanthethickness ofthe elements.

3. A device as recited in claim 11including:

,transverse sills secured at theirends to the sides of said elements.and adapted to assist in support- ,ing the upper closed sidesof thee1ements,.insulat-. ing .pads positionedwadjacent and under said closedsides and having a thickness considerably lessthanthe thickness'of theelements.

4; Afloor assembly for a building of the character described, comprisinga number of inverted sides being adapted toact as a floor for thebuilding, spaced means on certain Outer surfaces of said elementsadapted to register when the open sides ofthe elements are laid togetherto form an box shaped elements adapted to be placed end to endin pairsland sideby side, the upper closed sides being adaptedto act'as a floorfor the building, spaced means on"certain outer surfaces of y saidelementsadapted to register when the open sides of the elementsare laidtogether to forman I enclosure, the spaced members adapted to act as t ea detachable meansfor holding theelements togethena number of curvedroof supporting arches, f I notchesin adjacent. corners on one end ofthe floorunits adapted to provide. recesses on the op'-.

t posite sides of the floor assembly, said recesses adaptedfor thereception of the endsof said Y arches, detachable. means adapted to bindsaid -fioor. together and bind the ends of the archesto thefioor units;l

i 5. A floor assembly fora building of the char- .acter described,comprising a number of inverted "box-shapedelements adapted to be placedend to end in pairsand side "by side, the upper closed prising a floorassembly, a number of spaced" enclosure, the spaced members adapted toact as detachable means for holding the elements 110- gether, transversesills secured at their ends to the sides of said elements and adapted toassist in supporting the upper closed sides of the elements,' insulatingpads positioned adjacent and terialbetweenthe fabric sheetsand closedsides.

6. 4A floor assembly for abuilding of thecharacter described, comprisinga number of inverted box shaped elements adapted to be. placed end toend in pairs and-side by side, the upper closed sides being adapted toact as a floor for the building, spaced means on certain outer surfacesof said elements adapted to register when the open sides of the elementsare laid together to form an enclosure, the spaced members adapted toact as detachable means for holding the elements together, a. number ofcurved roof supporting arches, notches in adjacent corners on one end ofthe floor units adapted to provide recesses on the op ite sides of thefloor assembly, said recesses adapted for the reception of the end ofsaid arches, detachable means adapted to bind said floor units togetherand bind the ends of the arches to the floor units, said arches adaptedto support. cover blankets, said cover blankets having flaps secured atone side to the blankets a short distance from the ends thereof, thefree edges of the flaps having a number of spaced grommets, spacedanchors secured to said floor units and ropes'adapted to be lacedthrough said blankets may be stretched tightly over the arches. 7. Abuilding of the character described, comarches having their endsdetachably secured to the sides of said floor assembly, spaced ropeanchorson the sides'of said floor assembly, roof blankets adapted to besupported by said arches,

1 theirendscontacting the floor unit, said blankets having flaps securedon their upper sides thereto and& short distance from the ends of theblankets,

thefree edges of the flaps having spaced grommets, ropes slidablylacedthrough said grommets and around said anchors, whereby the ropesmay be used to pull the blanketstightly over the" arches and hold their.ends snugly against said floor assembly, and whereby oneor both ends ofthe blankets may be folded as required to accom modate the varyinglengths of the blankets. r i WATERMAN.

HAROLD B. TRACY.

